Conventional thermal throttling techniques for processing devices rely on the modulation of the performance of the central processing unit (CPU) so as to prevent the processing device from overheating. The CPU typically is modulated by changing the voltage supplied, by clock gating the CPU or by reducing the operational frequency of the CPU. While this can return the processing device to normal thermal operating parameters, the overall performance of the processing device can be severely and detrimentally affected due to the CPU's significant role in overall processing performance. To illustrate, in these conventional thermal throttling techniques, the performance of the CPU is throttled whenever the temperature approaches a maximum limit, thereby resulting in underutilization of processing resources over time. The sub-optimal performance of conventional thermal throttling techniques is of particular significance in processing devices whereby the CPU contributes a relatively small fraction of the overall thermal output of the processing device. In such devices, the performance degradation when throttling the CPU is disproportionate to the reduction in thermal output afforded by throttling the CPU. Accordingly, improved techniques for managing the thermal parameters of a processing device would be advantageous.